DIFFICULTIES FACED BY OMANI POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN AN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES CONTEXT
HAMED AHMED MATAR AL-ANQODI
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA
KUALA LUMPUR
2012
DIFFICULTIES FACED BY OMANI POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN AN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES CONTEXT
HAMED AHMED MATAR AL-ANQODI
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AS
A SECOND LANGUAGE
FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA
KUALA LUMPUR
2012
ii UNIVERSITI MALAYA
ORIGINAL LITERARY WORK DECLARATION Name of Candidate: Hamed Ahmed Matar AL-Anqodi
(I.C/Passport No: 02060035) Registration/Matric No: TGB080053
Name of Degree: Master of English as a Second Language
Title of Project Paper/Research Report/Dissertation/Thesis (“this Work”):
Difficulties faced by Omani Postgraduate Students in an English for Academic Purposes Context
Field of Study: Applied Linguistics I do solemnly and sincerely declare that:
(1) I am the sole author/writer of this Work;
(2) This Work is original;
(3) Any use of any work in which copyright exists was done by way of fair dealing and for permitted purposes and any excerpt or extract from, or reference to or
reproduction of any copyright work has been disclosed expressly and sufficiently and the title of the Work and its authorship have been acknowledged in this Work;
(4) I do not have any actual knowledge nor do I ought reasonably to know that the making of this work constitutes an infringement of any copyright work;
(5) I hereby assign all and every rights in the copyright to this Work to the University of Malaya (“UM”), who henceforth shall be owner of the copyright in this Work and that any reproduction or use in any form or by any means whatsoever is prohibited without the written consent of UM having been first had and obtained;
(6) I am fully aware that if in the course of making this Work I have infringed any copyright whether intentionally or otherwise, I may be subject to legal action or any other action as may be determined by UM.
Candidate’s Signature Date: 8 August 2012 Subscribed and solemnly declared before,
Witness’s Signature Date: 8 August 2012 Name: Dr. Jawakhir Mior Jaafar
Designation: Supervisor
iii ABSTRACT
This research was conducted to identify the difficulties faced by Omani postgraduates in the use of English for academic purposes (EAP). Seven areas of academic language use at a public university in Malaysia were identified as the focus of this investigation.
The study employed a mixed method approach to utilize both quantitative and qualitative data obtained through a questionnaire and interviews. A questionnaire and interviews were designed and administrated to 13 Omani postgraduates from 7 faculties in the academic year 2010/2011. The students were asked to indicate the problems they faced in performing the following academic language tasks: note taking, writing critical reviews, answering exam questions, understanding lecturers, reading and understanding academic book and journals, participating in group discussion and tutorials and oral presentations.
In addition, two sets of interviews were administrated after getting the consent from the interviewees. The interviewees for the first set were two Omani students; one each from the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Science. The interviewees for the second set were two lecturers of the same university; one each from the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, and the Faculty of Education. The aim of the first set of interview was to identify the academic language difficulties faced by the Omani students and the reasons for such difficulties. The aim of the second set of interview was to obtain the lecturers’ perception of the academic language difficulties the Omani students face, their causes and the possible ways to overcome them.
The study found that ‘writing critical review’ (69.22%) and ‘note taking’ (61.53%) were the most frequently cited difficulties among Omani postgraduates. This is followed by
‘reading/understanding academic books and journals (46.14%), ‘participating in group
iv discussion and tutorials’ (38.45%),‘answering examination questions’ (30.76%), ‘oral presentation (30.76%), and ‘understanding lecturers’ (15.38%) respectively.
Analysis of the lecturers’ and students’ interviews confirmed that ‘writing critical reviews’ was the students’ most frequently cited academic language difficulty.
Lecturers stated that students need to obtain the academic language skills and it requires immediate action. In addition, the study found that Omani postgraduates faced academic language difficulties because of the following reasons: poor English language proficiency, no academic language skills prior to entry and difficulties to adjust to the new academic culture.
v ABSTRAK
Kajian ini dijalankan untuk mengkaji kesukaran yang dihadapi calon pascasiswazah Oman dalam penggunaan Bahasa Inggeris untuk tujuan akademik (EAP). Tujuh bidang penggunaan bahasa akademik di satu universiti awam di Malaysia telah dikenalpasti untuk menjadi tumpuan kajian ini.
Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kaedah campuran untuk memungut data kuantitatif dan kualitatif melalui soalselidik dan temubual. Soalselidik dan temubual telah dibangunkan dan dijalankan keatas 13 orang calon pascasiswazah Omani dari 7 fakulti dalam sesi akademik 2010/2011. Pelajar diminta untuk menyatakan masalah yang mereka hadapi dalam menjalankan tugasan bahasa akademik berikut: mengambil nota, menulis rumusan kritikal, menjawab soalan peperiksaan, memahami pensyarah, membaca dan memahami buku dan jurnal akademik, mengambil bahagian didalam perbincangan berkumpulan dan tutorial, dan pembentangan lisan.
Selain dari itu, dua set temubual telah dijalankan selepas mendapat persetujuan dari pihak yang berkenaan. Dua orang calon pascasiswazah dari Oman, seorang dari Fakulti Pendidikan dan seorang dari Fakulti Sains telah ditemubual bagi set yang pertama.
Bagi set yang kedua, seorang pensyarah dari Fakulti Bahasa dan Linguistik dan seorang lagi pensyarah dari Fakulti Pendidikan telah ditemubual. Kedua-duanya dari universiti yang sama. Tujuan temubual bagi set yang kedua ialah untuk mendapatkan persepsi pensyarah tentang kesukaran bahasa akademik yang dihadapi pelajar Oman, serta sebab dan cara kesukaran ini boleh ditangani.
Kajian ini mendapati bahawa, menulis rumusan kritikal (69.22%) dan mengambil nota (61.53%) merupakan kesukuran yang paling kerap dihadapi dalam kalangan pelajar pascasiswazah Oman. Ini diikuti membaca dan memahami buku dan jurnal
vi akademik(46.14%), perbincangan berkumpulan dan tutorial (38.45%), menjawab soalan peperiksaan (30.76%), pembentangan lisan (30.76%) and memahami pensyarah (15.38%).
Dapatan dari temubual bersama pensyarah dan pelajar mengesahkan bahawa penulisan rumusan kritikal merupakan penggunaan bahasa akademik yang paling sukar.
Pensyarah menyatakan bahawa pelajar perlu mempertingkatkan kemahiran bahasa akademik dan ia harus ditangani secepat mungkin. Selain dari itu, kajian ini mendapati pelajar pascasiswazah Oman menghadapi masalah kesukaran bahasa akademik kerana sebab berikut: Kemahiran bahasa Inggeris yang lemah, tiada kemahiranbahasa akademik sebelum menjejak masuk keuniversiti dan kesukaran memadankan diri dengan budaya akademik baru.
vii Acknowledgments
At the very outset I have the spiritual inclination to thank Allah for He has bestowed His benevolence and abundance of grace upon me enabling me to shoulder this task of research without which this dissertation would not have been put in black and white.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to all those who have contributed their might in whatever form, encouraged and supported me from the earliest stages through to completion of this dissertation.
First, I would like to thank Dr. Jawakhir Mior Jaafar who has planted a seed in my mind to pursue this pathway and continued to water the seed till it sprouted, grew and yielded fruit. I clothe my gratitude for her able guidance and continued source and support throughout. Dr. Jawakhir Mior Jaafar is the epitome of the unselfish intellectual, always ready to give and share ideas, to be critical without being carping, to see connections and to push me to think differently.
Second, I would like to express my thanks to all the lecturers of the same university who have contributed their might not only by being respondents of the interviews but also for being co-advisers. Their valuable suggestions are accepted and solicited. In the same manner I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Omani postgraduate students of the University for being my valuable respondents and participating in this research.
Last but not least, my thanks go to my dear friend Salim Abdullah AL-Shukili for his encouragement, motivation and he has helped me to enjoy every step of the way.
Most importantly, my last deepest thanks go to my dear family: my mother, brothers, sisters, dear wife and sons: Ahmed, Al-Yaqdhan, AL-Julanda and Thaker for their encouragement and DOA. Their love has been a source of energy and motivation.
viii Table of Contents
PAGE
ORIGINAL LITERARY WORK DECLARATION ii
ABSTRACT iii
ABSTRAK v
Acknowledgments vii
Table of Contents viii
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xii
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.0 Background of the Study 1
1.1 Statement of the Problem 4
1.2 Research Objectives 6
1.3 Research Questions 6
1.4 Significance of the Study 7
1.5 Scope and Limitations 7
1.6 Summary 8
CHAPTER TWO 9
LITERATURE REVIEW 9
2.0 Introduction 9
2.1 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 10
2.2 English for Academic Purposes (EAP) 13
2.3 Needs Analysis 14
2.3.1 Target Needs 20
2.3.2 Approaches to Needs Analysis 23
2.3.2.1 Target Situation Analysis (TSA) 25
2.3.2.2 Present Situation Analysis (PSA) 27
2.3.2.3 Pedagogic Needs Analysis (PNA) 28
Deficiency Analysis (DA) 28
2.3.3 Current Concepts in Needs Analysis 31
2.3.4 Procedures for Collecting Data for Needs Analysis 32
ix
2.3.4.1 The Questionnaire 32
2.3.4.2 The Interview 34
2.4 General Difficulties Faced by International Students 34
2.5 Academic English Proficiency 37
2.6 Summary 42
CHAPTER THREE 43
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 43
3.0 Introduction 43
3.1 Research Design 44
3.2 The Respondents 45
3.2.1 Lecturers 45
3.2.2 Omani Students 45
3.3 Data Collection 47
3.3.1 The questionnaire 47
3.3.2 The interviews 50
3.4 Data Collection Procedures 52
3.4.1 Administration of the Questionnaires 52
3.4.2 Administration of the Interviews 53
3.5 Data Analysis 53
3.6 Summary 54
CHAPTER FOUR 55
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 55
4.0 Introduction 55
4.1 Findings from the questionnaires 55
4.1.1 Areas of English used for Academic Purposes 55
4.1.2 Students’ most difficult academic language skills 56
4.2 Findings from the Interviews 61
4.2.1 Lecturers' Perception of the Causes of the Students’ Problems in the Use of Academic English 61
4.2.2 Students' Perceptions of the Causes of their Academic English Problems 62 4.2.3 Lecturers’ Perceptions Concerning Solutions to Students’ Academic English Difficulties 63 4.2.4 Students' Perceptions Concerning Solutions to their Academic English Difficulties 63
4.3 Discussion 64
4.3.1 The Most Difficult Academic Language Tasks 65
4.3.2 The Least Difficult Academic Task 69
x 4.3.3 Lecturers’ Perceptions of the Causes of these Academic Language Difficulties 69 4.3.4 Students’ Perceptions of the Causes of their Academic Language Difficulties 70 4.3.5 Lecturers’ Perception of the Solutions to Students’ Academic Language Difficulties 72 4.3.6 Students’ Perceptions of the Solutions to their Academic Language Difficulties 74
4.4 Summary 76
CHAPTER FIVE 77
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 77
5.0 Overview of the Study 77
5.1 Research Question 1: What are the difficulties faced by Omani postgraduate students at a public university in Malaysia in using English for academic purposes? 78 5.2 Research Question 2: What are the perceived causes of these difficulties? 79 5.3 Research Question 3: How best can Omani postgraduates overcome these difficulties? 80
5.4 Overview of the Problems and Implications 81
5.4.1 Deficiency in General Proficiency 81
5.4.2 Difficulties with Academic English 82
5.4.3 The Difficulty in Adjusting to the New Academic Culture 82
5.5 Possible Recommendations to EAP Difficulties 83
1. English Language Proficiency Requirements 83
2. Academic Language Course 83
5.6 Adjustment to the New Learning Culture 84
5.7 University Students’ Support Department 85
5.8 Faculties Students’ Societies 85
5.9 Recommendations for Further Research 85
5.8 Summary 86
References 87
Appendix I: Students Questionnaire 91
Appendix II: Students Interview Questions 95
Appendix III: Lecturers Interview Questions 96
Appendix IV: Questionnaire Findings 97
xi
List of Tables
Table Page
Table 1.1 The Differences Between Necessities, Lacks and Wants (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:58) ... 21 Table 3.1 Interview Participants of a Public University in Malaysia: Lecturers
(Academic year 2010-2011) ... 45 Table 3.2 Student Participants Profile ... 46 Table 4.1 Students’ Self-Rating of Difficulties in the Most Challenging Skills in the Use of Academic English (Based on the frequency of 'Always', 'Usually' and 'Sometimes’ responses ... 56
xii List of Figures
Figure Page
Figure 2.1: Factors Affecting ESP Course Design ... 11
Figure 2.2: Munby’s Parameters for CNP Model (1978) ... 24
Figure 2.3: Deficiency Analysis (Esfahani, 2009) ... 29
Figure 3.1: Study Framework ... 43
